


at least it wasn't a tsunami

by smartbuckley



Series: Buddie Codas [11]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Bobby Nash - Freeform, Henrietta 'Hen' Wilson, Howie 'Chimney' Han, M/M, anxiety attack, episode speculation, mentions of Christopher Diaz - Freeform, mentions of tsunami, post episode coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28888698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartbuckley/pseuds/smartbuckley
Summary: “We’ve gotten word that the dam breaking has caused a mudslide coming down from the Hollywood sign. We need to ---” Buck hears Bobby begin to say as they enter the truck and the truck begins to leave the station, but Buck doesn’t hear any of it, sucking back a breath and tensing immediately.----The mudslide is happening and Buck backslides into remembering the tsunami -- like he wasn't already.----AKA - Buck is thinking about Eddie, and how he misses kissing him, and how ofcourseEddie had to tease him about the tsunami, and then a mudslide happens.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Buddie Codas [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527032
Comments: 22
Kudos: 264





	at least it wasn't a tsunami

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is a post season four, episode one coda, and a speculative story about how Buck might react to news of the mudslide in 4.02. It's not nearly as long as I would like it to be, but I hope it's a good read nonetheless. I was slightly inspired by the following prompts:
> 
> _I’d like to submit a prompt for buddie where Buck has a panic attack or freaks out about the line “at least it’s not a tsunami” and Eddie and the team comfort him_ and _For the last buddie prompt them talking either in the elevator or after the bus rescue maybe?_.

_ At least it’s not a tsunami _ , Buck hears, over and over as the elevator doors close, and he has to breathe in and out while he turns to look towards his best friend. There’s energy running through him about the job they’re about to do, and as Buck turns away from staring at Eddie in disbelief, a rather large part of him wants to stop himself from doing so and just push at Eddie’s buttons, ask him  _ what the fuck _ , but he knows now is not the time. Now’s not the time to question Eddie about their friendship, especially everything that happened between them before Eddie returned to his home to be with his son, once he knew they were both safe.

Now is  _ definitely _ not the time, Buck thinks with a tilt of his head, to remember the way Eddie crawled into his bed at one point when he couldn’t sleep on the couch or the ground any longer, nor is it the time to think about the way they made out like a couple of teenagers, once they finally let themselves feel something for one another, and admit to those feelings. And, Buck thinks with a frustrated sigh inwardly, now is definitely not the time to remember how at home he felt with his arms wrapped around Eddie’s waist as they fell asleep and woke up together, limbs entangled. And probably the most important thing to remember, Buck admits to himself, is that now is definitely not the time to think about the fact things got awkward between them when Eddie had said he was returning home, knowing it was safe to do so. That Buck had wanted Eddie to stay, or to go with Eddie because  _ shit _ did he ever miss Chris, but he couldn’t say anything with Hen and Chim there, and Eddie obviously couldn’t say anything more either for that same reason.

No, now is definitely not the time, Buck thinks. Even though it’s been a few months since Eddie left, it’s something Buck thinks about constantly, something he misses in a way he didn’t think he could miss and Eddie -- Eddie isn’t telling him anything, his feelings locked up tight and Buck hates that. He gets it, but he hates it, either way.

“I mean that in a joking way, you know that, right?” Eddie says and Buck looks towards him, can see Eddie shifting on his feet, and he arches his eyebrow, realizing that even though they continue to be professional at work, Eddie can feel the awkward tension between them just as much as Buck can. Why they haven’t exactly talked about it, yet, Buck doesn’t quite know.

“Yeah, I know,” Buck replies after a minute of silence, shrugging his shoulders while the elevator doors open to the roof, and they begin to make their way to the edge, the time to begin their job settling in, the professionalism starting immediately.

Despite that, though ---

_ At least it’s not a tsunami _ , Buck hears, continuously, but Buck can’t help but think that it feels like he’s been stumbling in the waves of that tsunami ever since it happened, and that he can’t catch his feet no matter how hard he tries to. Especially since Eddie left.

* * *

The bus crashed and the bus exploded, and all Buck could think about was the bombing, and then being pinned underneath and Buck -- Buck is not having a good day, he thinks to himself. He knows he’s going to go home with Chim, and he’d normally be very thankful for that fact, especially after he always considered him lonely when he was going home  _ alone _ , but in this one moment, Buck wishes he  _ was _ going home alone - or, at the very least, it was Eddie who was coming home with him instead. Not that he didn’t love Chim - the dude was family, practically the brother he never had growing up - but he also didn’t quite understand Buck, or his panic attacks, or what he was going through. Their trauma’s were different, which was alright, but in this one instance, it wasn’t exactly helpful, either.

And Buck -- Buck really wanted Eddie to be the one there for him, even with things awkward as all hell between them. With that thought in his mind, the moment Buck sees Eddie in the locker room, their shift finally done, he makes his way towards his best friend, taking a deep breath as he does so, knocking on the door lightly, smiling softly when Eddie turns towards him.

“Can we uh, can we talk?” Buck asks, voice soft as Eddie looks up at him for a moment before nodding his head, opening and closing his mouth like he has something to say but isn’t quite sure what to say. Buck feels that exact way, and stands at Eddie’s side for a few minutes, trying to figure out what exactly it is he wants to say to Eddie.

“I uh --” Buck begins but before he can even begin to finish his statement, the alarm above them is ringing, and Buck can hear Bobby shouting from the staircase, and he knows that something big is happening. Looking towards Eddie, he can’t help but let out a small huff of breath as Eddie shrugs before he places his hand on Buck’s shoulder and squeezes.

“We’ll talk later, yeah?” Eddie says, and Buck can only nod, blinking in surprise when Eddie leans forward and kisses him lightly. It feels like the kiss lasts an eternity, when in reality, Buck has barely started to respond before Eddie pulls away with a soft smile.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get my head to follow my heart. I promise it won’t take that long again,” he whispers and Buck chuckles with a shake of his head.

“Good to know. We should go out there, see what’s going on,” Buck states, ignoring the way his body hums as Eddie squeezes his shoulder once more before grabbing their gear and making his way out of the locker room, Buck following.

* * *

“We’ve gotten word that the dam breaking has caused a mudslide coming down from the Hollywood sign. We need to ---” Buck hears Bobby begin to say as they enter the truck and the truck begins to leave the station, but Buck doesn’t hear any of it, sucking back a breath and tensing immediately.

_ At least it’s not a tsunami _ , Eddie had said. Buck knew Eddie had said it jokingly, but a  _ mudslide _ was pretty bad - probably just as bad as a tsunami, and now -- Buck was panicking. He knew he was panicking, because he could feel the curl of his fingernails on his palm, could hear his heart thumping inside of his chest, could only see straight at his feet, and it was a blurry view at that.

Was Christopher alright? He wanted to turn to Eddie and ask, but Eddie didn’t -- shouldn’t ---

“Buck. Buck, you need to breathe. Come on man, breathe for me, babe,” Buck hears, and he finds himself blinking furiously, the blurry edges of his sight sharpening as he sees Eddie kneeling in front of him, feels his fingers on his cheeks, stroking gently.

“I--” Buck begins, his eyes widening, his heart still thumping loudly inside of his chest. He wonders if Chim and Hen can hear it, looks at them briefly before wanting to shy away, knowing that they’re realizing just how bad off he is thanks to the tsunami.

“And to think our shift was over,” Buck chuckles sardonically while Eddie smiles, his fingers trailing down BUck’s face before resting on his hands, interlacing with Buck’s own fingers before squeezing.

“You’re going to be okay, okay? You’re not alone. Christopher is at home with Carla, far from any mudslide action, from what Bobby has said, and I’ve got your back.” Eddie says and Buck finds himself nodding, blinking for a few moments before taking a deep breath and then exhaling a few minutes later.

“You’ve got my back,” Buck repeats, biting his lower lip before looking up at Hen and Chim completely, snorting softly.

“Surpriiiise,” he says, chuckling and shrugging his shoulders, ignoring the way Chim huffs and Hen chuckles.

“Are you saying surprise over the fact that Eddie just called you  _ babe _ , or the fact that you’re still not over the tsunami?” Hen asks and Chim snorts, Bobby chuckling from the front seat as Eddie groans and Buck shrugs his shoulders.

“Can I say both?” He responds back, letting out a sigh and tilting his head back. Briefly, he closes his eyes and continues to take a couple of deep breaths before opening them and looking at Eddie, slightly surprised that he’s still kneeling in front of him.

“Are you good?” Eddie asks and Buck finds himself nodding, grinning when Eddie sits next to him. He didn’t notice when Chim had moved to Eddie’s old spot - hadn’t even noticed when Hen and Chim were talking with him, but Buck finds himself thankful more than anything that Eddie can sit next to him, his thigh pressed against Buck’s own. Even with the turnout gear on, he can feel the heat of Eddie next to him, and the calming presence of his best friend is --- exactly what he needed in this moment.

“Alright, good. Don’t forget---”   
  
“You have my back. I’m not alone. Christopher is okay,” Buck finishes off with a smile, turning towards Eddie before relaxing even more. He’s still tense, because it’s a goddamn mudslide, and Eddie just  _ had _ to say  _ at least it wasn’t a tsunami _ , earlier, but Eddie is right.

Buck’s not alone. Eddie has his back. And Christopher is okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this. If I missed any triggers, please let me know immediately. As always, comments are loved, appreciated and always responded to eventually. You can come yell at me on my [tumblr](https://siriuslyjamie.tumblr.com).


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